What's your attitude to COVID and risk now?

[aqua]

My main risk is still out of my hands (kids in primary), but I'm back to wearing a mask again, but I'll still meet a friend in the pub. That said I've not done that since Xmas and I have nothing in the diary for the foreseeable (a couple of possible things but they've not been confirmed yet). I am happy to visit friends in their house though.
I don't use public transport, I'm back working only from home, I do online food deliveries again.

My eldest just had it, can't be long until me and the youngest get it, assuming we haven't already tbh.

 

[spanglechick]

In the two or three weeks before xmas, and over the holiday I felt like I mustn’t leave the house other than for work and to stay with my sister over xmas itself, because I was living so close to the epicentre of omicron.

Now we’re back at school it feels a bit less scary. It’s not like there’s a finite amount of time before a day eyeryone wants to protect - we want to stay open but people will obviously get ill. I haven’t been anywhere this weekend, but that’s because i’m skint and tired. Otherwise I might’ve gone to the cinema.

I wouldn’t go on public transport though, if there was an alternative. Or to a pub. Seems unnecessarily risky.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I'm indoors in a pub now. Admittedly it is pretty much empty and if it got busier I would leave. But I need to get out of the house and be around other people to not go nuts, which I've already done once this pandemic and I don't recommend.

 

[LDC]

This is a thing I've never understood the whole time - they always said look out for temperature, cough, aches with COVID, but only about 30% report cough and I think maybe a bit more ache and temperature.... but IIRC about 70% of sufferers report fatigue. So why has that never been reported anywhere as the top indicator of COVID?! For me, often the difference between a normal cold and a really bad virus is that kind of 'viral tiredness' you get with the latter (which is quite distinctive from normal levels of being run-down or underslept).

Because 'fatigue' is massively subjective, I think most people I know would say they're fatigued most of the time! I think also fatigue is a later symptom from what I can remember, the others are earlier presentations.

If you add up those with one of those symptoms that are much clearer (temp, cough, loss of taste or smell) it does cover most people iirc. (Although seem new variant is different.)

 

[spanglechick]

This is a thing I've never understood the whole time - they always said look out for temperature, cough, aches with COVID, but only about 30% report cough and I think maybe a bit more ache and temperature.... but IIRC about 70% of sufferers report fatigue. So why has that never been reported anywhere as the top indicator of COVID?! For me, often the difference between a normal cold and a really bad virus is that kind of 'viral tiredness' you get with the latter (which is quite distinctive from normal levels of being run-down or underslept).

Fatigue is hard to quantify and it can be hard to recognise the onset.

Eta- post viral fatigue is a similar level of tiredness to my sleep disorder. I genuinely haven’t experienced extra fatigue with/after covid or the jabs, because I always feel like it.

 

[souljacker]

I'm pretty relaxed now. I wear masks in shops and on public transport but will happily go to a pub or gig if I want. Sanitise hands often too.

There actually isn't many people about at the moment anyway. I took the train from Reading to Paddington and back, then the bakerloo line 4 times last week. Normally, you are in super close contact to people on those journeys but at the moment, you are likely to have the carriage to yourself (maybe not on the tube). It's probably safer than going to the supermarket at the moment.

 

[oryx]

Upped my game to wearing an FFP2 mask on public transport - bonus is that at this time of year they help keep you warm.

Yes, I have found the warmth of a mask at this time of year one of the (very) few bonuses of Covid!

Had to laugh at this in the context of your username though.

 

[Cloo]

Fatigue is hard to quantify and it can be hard to recognise the onset.

Eta- post viral fatigue is a similar level of tiredness to my sleep disorder. I genuinely haven’t experienced extra fatigue with/after covid or the jabs, because I always feel like it.

That was my guess, that it might be seen as too vague to quantify for some people.

 

[Looby]

I WFH anyway but not doing home visits unless really necessary for the time being.
I’ve been avoiding pubs and other indoor stuff mostly. I did have dinner in a couple of places back in October/November and went to a party but nothing since.

It’s a friend’s 40th in a couple of weeks and I’ll go out for that and keep my fingers crossed. I’m only going for her, I wouldn’t choose to otherwise.
I guess I’ll do occasions but won’t be nipping for a pint unless it’s outside. Can’t wait for warmer weather again.

Tbh at this time of year I’m mostly happy to hibernate.

I’m CEV. Double jabbed and boosted but not taking any chances.

 

[Thora]

I'm not quite going to clubs and licking strangers but I also don't really care how many people are masked (I'm wearing a mask wherever required and have had all my vax).

Not really bothered about catching covid anymore, between work and children in school it's inevitable at some point.

 

[ouirdeaux]

I have worked throughout the last two years, using public transport. I was an early adopter, having had Covid in February 2020, as confirmed by an antibody test in June. At that point not all that many of my colleagues had had it. A few more had it later that year, or last year. We wear masks in most places and have our temperature taken, but aren't pushed into doing LFTs when unsymptomatic.

Now Omicron seems to have knocked out half the workforce, but I haven't had it, unless what seemed like a bog-standard cold, and tested as one, was a false negative. I do occasionally visit pubs; I wouldn't have gone to a crowded one before the pandemic for purely personal reasons, but I know it's probably my biggest risk, apart from obligatory public transport. The problem is, I find it hard to ignore the voice that says to me, 'You have done a block of shifts, and now you deserve to have a drink and a go at the quiz machine at the PUB!'

 

[contadino]

WFH, but I've done so for many years. Don't go out if other people will be there, so no shops, pubs, etc... People can come into my house if they distance and mask up.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Went to a gig/club last night. Didn't lick any strangers, though.

Following a (non-covid) bereavement last year, I decided not to worry about catching covid for myself. Life is finite and there are more important things than not catching covid.

I appreciate that not everybody feels like that, so I try not to be a dick about it.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Oh and on the subject of day-to-day activity, still WFH, but I don't have a choice because everyone else is and there is no "office" any more.

I hate WFH. I deliberately picked my current job because it involved hanging around with other people (before the pandemic anyway) - I'd had quite enough of WFH being freelance and it was very bad for me. Recruiters were spamming me with stuff using WFH as a bonus and were gobsmacked when I said I actively didn't want any WFH jobs.

Now of course that's turned on its head, the only time I went into the office for was the interview before I started, and I'm in the position of having to try to predict whether this job is ever going to go office/people-based again, or whether I should just quit.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Yeah, I'm now permanently WFH not through choice. Was half-and-half before covid, which I preferred.

 

[Hollis]

I'm not that bothered personally now... it's highly likely I've had it and either been asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.

I'm wearing masks on public transport & in shops/supermarkets where requested.. I don't see why I should put others at risk where there's little choice about using those places.

Conversely in my local cafe & pubs, where nobody is wearing masks, I'm not remotely bothered.

Technically, I could still WFH full-time. However I'm choosing to go into a near-empty office at least one day a week, because it helps with not going nuts..

 

[BigMoaner]

i live on my own now, and have my kids during the week. i probably go out once or twice a month with friends and we will go clubbing which is probably the most dodgy thing to do covid wise. this was before ominocon though.

i was doing museums, cafes, pubs etc and masking up when required etc.

 

[Cloo]

I think that within a month or so of Omicron peaking (which I'm not betting it has yet given kids' return to school) I might start thinking about regular-ish visits to the office - though only when team members are there. Having felt before Christmas that Jan and Feb would fucked and locked down and that various events in spring might also be write-offs, I now don't think that - it seems like spring events will be happening.

 

[Looby]

I think I’m slightly more concerned about long covid as time has gone on. Hearing about how much people are still suffering a long time after infection.

I had glandular fever when I was a teen, mostly recovered then relapsed a year later and was unwell for fucking ages. I don’t want that again.

I had something, probably covid in March 20 and had fatigue and a cough that lingered for a long time. Because I’ve never tested positive and my antibody test was offered too late to pick it up, I wasn’t really taken seriously. It was only when I had chest pains that turned out to be stress that they thought they should do a chest X-ray too. 10 months after I was ill. My friend was sent for an X-ray after 6 weeks of a cough.

 

[nagapie]

I work in school, have children in two different schools and catch public transport to school. My household has had covid twice and I've had it at least one of those times.
So while I mask up, sanitise and test weekly for work, I'm up for licking some strangers.

 

[weltweit]

..
I'm up for licking some strangers.

nagapie you stay away from me ok

 

[campanula]

Um, a bit tricky as I am not really being careful at all...but otoh, I don't exactly do anything risky either (such as being sociable in pubs and nightclubs). I have always been super keen on masks but mostly because I don't have to have a frantic search for my teeth before I leave the house. Most of my socialising involves my dog walking friends, neighbours and my gardening and allotment friends...so are all outside. Same with working (outside) and my top leisure activity involves mucking about in the woods. I have always avoided supermarkets anyway, cos they do my head in (I shop in my largely empty Tesco Express and an even emptier Waitrose and the market). So I feel I am taking no precautions whatsoever as I haven't changed my life very much at all throughout the entire pandemic (apart from masks). I haven't really isolated from my offspring for months.

 

[Boudicca]

The start of Covid co-incided with me discovering my heart wasn't in great condition and I was convinced I was going to die if I caught it. I was not in a good state.

Now I am tripled jabbed, have improved my chances of not dying by losing 4 stone and am almost at the 'bring it on' stage.

I am meeting friends, going to cafes occasionally and shopping regularly without fear. I am not working and I drive so it's very easy to avoid high risk situations.

But I can't quite convince myself that going into a pub to watch a band with lots of drunk unmasked people is a good idea.

 

[girasol]

I had covid twice (1st time not official, no testing back then) and had three covid injections. I'm getting to the stage of no longer being fearful and learning to live with it. Like I learned to live with other things which were scary at first...

 

[zora]

I work in retail - it's a large space though, and the one good thing to come out of Omicron was that masks were made compulsory again, so I actually feel safer at work than before with Delta.
Managed to swerve the stonking great outbreak among colleagues before Christmas due a combination of having had the booster and eating my lunch away from the staffroom and possibly a bit of luck.

Taking public transport a lot more now than before, and again, much more happily since Omicron brought masks back - and WFH home means it's usually emptier again.

Have only been in indoor hospitality a handful of times since start of the pandemic for special occasions. And have met up with friends indoors possibly a further dozen times?

Otherwise still doing relatively little socialising. Not doing cinema or gym or anything like that. Will probably swerve pubs for a bit longer, unless outdoors, which is not that appealing right now. Looking forward to spring/summer pub times -and then I really hope that I'll feel better next autumn/winter about indoor pubs. It's the one thing I really do miss at the moment - going into a cosy pub with a roaring fire after a wintery walk!

 

[mx wcfc]

Not quite licking strangers but I’m out and about now. Pub, football, gig next weekend.
But wearing a mask on public transport and in shops.
WFH and not going back in a hurry, tho I’ve just arranged an actual in person meeting with a client in London in Feb. Must think about which pubs to visit on the way home.

 

[kalidarkone]

My stance has changed in the last few weeks and as data has shown the Omicron varient to be a lot milder. Also working in a clinical setting within the NHS and having unwittingly been surrounded by patients and colleagues some of whom have had positive pcr tests after I've had contact with them and been around colleagues, whose household/partner/children have tested positive and been mildly unwell with covid, but not getting it (I've never knowingly been positive) has made me a lot less anxious.

I have no worries regarding going out socially and I feel the most relaxed that I have for almost two years.

I am lft testing twice a week and am more then happy to wear a mask inside in supermarkets/shops/ work/ public transport/ or wherever required, for the foreseeable future. (I've not been out socially since the beginning of Dec).

I'm also triple jabbed.

 

[weepiper]

Team of seven at work. Since Christmas, four of us have had to self isolate because family members have got it. We're only just managing to function and keep the business open so everyone that's left is even more anxious not to get it now.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Still fairly cautious without being paranoid about it - using public transport some of the time, but have continued to do the mask thing on buses / trains and in shops and so on..

I'm triple jabbed, but could need to go and visit mum-tat (she's triple jabbed but 80+) at short notice if there's any sort of emergency there.

Not really doing a lot social (although that's not much less than before) and try to avoid shopping at busy times (although that's nothing new either)

 

[Cloo]

I haven't been back to the gym since COVID started, but that's in large part because doing 20 mins a day at home (plus 30-40 mins stationary bike 2-3 times a week) seems to be working OK. When they reopened, with my gym, I was like 'Nope, most of the demographic are exactly the people who will not be taking any precautions whatsoever'. I think the receding threat of having to isolate because of contacts makes it less of an issue now, but again I won't consider it until omicron has definitely peaked, and maybe only when I'm going into work more often and my morning home exercise won't be a possibility every day.